Synergistic anti-bacterial and anti-fungal compositions containing an alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridine-1-oxide and an alkali chromate

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to synergistic anti-bacterial and antifungal compositions comprising mixtures of an alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridine-1-oxide and an alkali metal chromate in the amounts of about 1.5:1 to about 1:7 parts by weight of the mercaptopyridine salt to the chromate salt.

a 4 i I 1 Unite States atet [1 1 [11] 3,7269% Weisse 5] Apr. 10, 1973 [5.41 Y ST V WTPBAQTEH f N References Cited ANTI-FUNGAL COMPOSITIONS CONTAINING AN ALKALI mTAL UNITED STATES PATENTS q 2,686,786 8 ll54i I Shew at al. ..424/33O X K a I B I q 2,909,459 10/1959 Hovey "424/263 X AND AN AL I TE 2,944,967 7/1960 Dunklin et al.... ..424/13l X .4 t to 3,235,455 2/1966 Judge et a1. ..424/263 X [75] Inventor: Guenter K. Weisse, Northford,

Conn. OTHER PUBLICATIONS A g jb g' Hahn, Chemlcal Abstracts 1955, Vol. 46: 1192b.

n Primary Examiner-Albert T. Meyers AssistanfExamirir Norman AfDrezin [22] v Ffled: 1971 Attorney-Eugene Zagarella, Jr., Gordon D. Byrkit, [21] Appl. No.: 115,074 Donald F. Clements, F. A. lskander and Thomas P.

. ODay Related U.S. A licatio Data pp H n M [57] ABSTRACT [63] continuation'in'pm of This invention relates to synergistic anti-bacterial and 1968 abandoned anti-fungal compositions comprising mixtures of an alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide and an C(il ..424/ 131, 424/263 alk ali me all chromate in the amounts f about 1521 to [58] Fieid u about 1:7 parts by weight of the mercaptopyridine salt to the chromate salt.

10 Claims, No Drawings MERCAPTOPYRIDlNE-l-OXTDE AND AN ALKALT CHROMATE This application is a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 786,410 filed Dec. 23, 1968 now abandoned.

This invention relates to synergistic biocidal compositions having broad anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties. More particularly, this invention relates to a mixture of an alkali metal salt of Z-mercaptopyridine-loxide and an alkali metal chromate.

Various synergistic mixtures containing Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxides have been prepared and disclosed in the literature. For example, US. Pat. No. 2,909,459 discloses compositions comprising sodium 2-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide and a water-soluble borate, while synergistic mixtures of Z-mercapto-pyridine-l-oxides and halogenated salicylanilides are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,455. Although these mixtures are effective in certain applications, there is a need for an economical, readily water-soluble biocidal composition which can be effectively'employed in small amounts as afungicide, valgaecide, or bactericide.

Now it hasbeen found in accordance with this invention that selected binary compositions exhibit synergism when incorported into a variety of media, thereby providing an economical, highly effective biocide.

Generally, the synergistic compositions of this invention can comprise widely varying amounts of an alkali metal salt of a.2-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide and an alkali metal chromate depending upon the particular usage. More particularly, the synergistic compositions of this invention comprise between about 1.5:1 to about. 1:7 parts by weight of mercaptopyridine salt to alkali metal chromate and preferably from about 1.25:1 to about 1:5. More particularly preferred is a ratio of about 1:1 to about 1:4.

The alkali metal salts of Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxides employed in the compositions of this invention have the formula:

wherein ]R is hydrogen, lower alkyl, i.e., alkyl having 1-5 carbon atoms, lower alkoxy, i.e., alkoxy having 1-5 carbon atoms, or halogen and M is an alkali metal, e.g., sodium, potassium, lithium, etc. The alkali metal salts of Z-mercapto-pyridine-l-oxide, i.e., Formula 1 wherein R is hydrogen, are preferred in the practice of this invention; sodium Z-mercapto-pyridine-l-oxide has been found to be particularly efficacious.

Any alkali metal chromate, e.g., sodium chromate, potassium chromate, lithium chromate, or cesium chromate, can be employed in the compositions of this invention. However, sodium chromate and potassium chromate are employed in the preferred compositions. The alkali metal chromate can be employed in anhydrous or hydrated form; where a hydrated material is used, the composition of the synergistic mixture is calculated on an anhydrous basis.

The compositions of "thisinvention are provided by admixing the aforementioned alkali metal salt of a 2- mercapto-pyridine-l-oxidewith the alkali metal chro mate in the appropriate amounts. Preferably, these compositions are employed in aqueous solutions.

The synergistic biocidal compositions of this invention have a variety of useful applications. Thus, for. example, they are used to inhibit fungal and bacterial growth in starch pastes, gypsum-based dry wall cements, drilling muds, floor polishes and paints.

These compositions are also effective slimicides for paper; in this application they are admixed with starch and applied to the paper during the sizing operation.

Furthermore, these compositions are particularly effective biocides for industrial cooling towers. These cooling towers are frequently used as part of a recirculating system to permit re-use of water and are prone to organic growth, thereby causing equipment plugging, loss-of heat exchange, and general process contamination. When used in this application, the desired concentration of the synergistic composition of this invention is generally maintained by periodic additions of small amounts thereof to the cooling tower. In addition to functioning as a biocide in cooling towers, the synergistic compositions of this invention are excellent corrosion inhibitors for metal parts in the cooling towers. The synergistic compositions of this invention may also be used in other water circulating systems e.g. heat exchangers.

While the biocidal effect of the synergistic compositions of this invention is observed over a wide range of biocide concentration, generally from about 1 to about 1,000 ppm, and preferably from about 5 to about 400 ppm is employed. Greater and lesser amounts can be utilized, depending upon the particular usage, and the ranges set forth herein are not intended to be limiting.

The following examples will serve to illustrate the practice of this invention.

EXAMPLE 1 One ml. aliquot of freshly prepared solutions of the biocides, as indicated below, were added to tubes containing Sabauraud Dextrose Broth and the contents of the tubes thoroughly mixed. One ml. aliquots of a 24 hour old culture of Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeastfungi) was then added to each tube and the contents again mixed (each tube now containing about 10 ml. of mixture).

At each of the time intervals noted below, a 1 ml. portion of each test mixture was diluted in sterile distilled water. An aliquot of the diluted solution was then placed in a sterile petri dish followed by the addition of Sabauraud Dextrose Agar. The agar was allowed to solidify and the plates incubated at 30C.

Following the period of incubation the colonies on each plate were counted and the number of organisms present in each diluted aliquot determined (all plating procedures were performed in duplicate). Results are noted below in Table l. in the table, NaMPO and KMPO represent sodium Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide and potassium Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide respectively.

As shown in Table I, compositions in accordance with this invention displayed marked synergistic biocidal effects. Thus, the composition having a ratio of 1:4 parts of sodium Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide to sodium chromate exhibited a 25 percent reduction in TABLE 1I.NU.\'1B1I 1t ()1" ORGANISMS PER MILLILITER [ESCHERICHIA COLI] NaMPO NaMPO, KM PO, Control, NaMlO NH Cl'Ol 2.5 p.p.m. 1 p.p.ni.; 1 p.p.m.; '11 m 11o KMPO, K-gCi'O 1, NZIQCY()1, NQQCI'OJ, KuCrU nuns biocide 0.2 ppm. 0.45 ppm. 1.0 ppm. 2.5 ppm. 1.01 .p.n1. 1.0 ppm. 5.0 ppm. 1.0 p.p.n1. 2.5 ppm. 4 ]).p.m. 4 p.p.m. 1,050 1, 050 1, 050 1, 050 1,050 1, 050 1, 050 1, 050 1, 050 1, 050 1, 050 1,050 1,100 1,050 1,100 1,100 1, 000 1,100 1, 050 1,100 1, 000 1,100 1, 050 1,100 1, 850 1, 850 1, 900 1,1100 1,800 1,800 1, 800 1, .100 2, 000 1, 700 1, 600 1, 700 2, 100 2, 100 2, 200 2, 100 2, 000 2, 100 2, 100 2,000 2, 300 1, 550 1, 500 1, 450 3, 000 2, 050 2, 900 2, 800 2, 700 2, .100 3, 000 3, 000 3, 000 1, 200 1, 100 1, 100 3, 950 4, 000 4, 000 3, 900 3, 900 4, 000 4, 000 -1,000 3, 900 950 800 100 5, 650 5, 600 5, 500 5, 500 5, 450 5, 600 6, 000 6, 000 5, 50 300 350 100 TABLE III.NUMBER OF ORGANISMS PER MILLILITER [staphylocococcus aurcus] NaMPO, NaMPO 2.5 p.p.m., 1 p.p.n1., Control, NaMPO, NazCrOa NazCrO-i, NazCrOi, no biocide 2.5 ppm. 2.5 ppm. 2.5 p.p.m. 4 p.p.n1.

Time(mins.):

(1 9. 8X10 1. 07X10 0. 85 1O 9. 75X10 7. 2X10 1. 01X10 2. 4x10 6. 1x10 7. 3X10 1. 223x10 2. 255x10 1. 6X10 5. X10 1. 424x10 1. 45x10 9. 0X10 5. 0X1O 1.14X10 1.6)(10 4.0)(10 4.6X10 1.30X10 6.5X10 1.0)(10 48. 3 +27. 1 -.)3. 4 -9.). 0

TABLE IV incubated at 37C. for 48 hours and the number of oranisms er late w s Bmlde (ppm) Number of Days g p p a determined, utilizing a Quebec NaMPO Kzcro pwserved colony counter. in all the examples, the count fell to Bl nk 0 8 32 between 1 00600 organisms per ml. shortly after 10 H addition of the biocide. The system remained in this Composition 1 5 5 39 state until about 3 to 4 days before failure at which time As shown in the table above, compositions in accordance with this invention display marked synergistic biocidal effects. Thus, a composition comprising onehalf of the biocide of Control-l plus one-half the biocide of Control-ll would be expected to fail at 32/2 plus 1 1/2, or 21.5 days..l-lowever, Composition 1 did not fail unti 39 days, thereby proving the synergism of this composition.

EXAMPLE V A simulated cooling tower was built by filling a polyethylene tank, containing a substantially vertically disposed wooden rack, with 5-8 liters sterilized water. The rack contained 5-8 plates of 1% inches X 3 inches X /4 inch white pine panels positioned parallel to the bottom of the tank. The water was circulated over the plates at a rate of 1 liter per minute by means of a polyethylene centrifugal pump connected with A inch plastic tubing; a 2 inches Buchner funnel served as the spray head. The tank was covered loosely with plastic sheet to keep out excessive dirt. The system was run for 1-5 days until the laboratory air-caused measurable bacterial contamination ranging from 100,000 to 4,500,000 organisms per ml., as indicted in the table below. Then the appropriate biocide was added to the cooling towerand its efficacy was measured by daily bacterial counts on samples withdrawn while the system was continuously operated and thus exposed to further continuous inoculation from the air.

The bacterial count on the samples was conducted as follows. Samples were diluted with sterilized water 1:100 and 1210,000. A one ml. aliquot of each dilution was added to 19 ml. of melting sterile TSA (Trypticase Soy Agar) and poured into sterile petri plates. Duplicates of each dilution were made. The plates were the number of organisms grew to about 30,000. Failure, as reported in the table below, was indicated by a bacterial count above 30,000 organisms per ml.,

the maximum level of contamination permissable by industrial standards.

*lndicates failure has not yet occurred at the indicated number of days.

The synergism of Composition I to 111 is apparent by comparing the number of days preserved for these samples with the reported data for the controls. Thus, Composition 1, which comprises the sum of the biocides employed in Control-1 and Control-l1 would be expected to preserve for 14.1 days; at 56 days Composition-l had rendered the sample sterile and further testing was discontinued. Even more significant is the results of Composition-Ill wherein using a ratio of 1:4 parts of sodium-2-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide to sodium chromate, but with only 40 percent of the biocide amounts used in Composition-1 and in Controls 1 and 11, a significant preservation of 52 days was still exhibited.

' mate, said alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridine-loxide is an alkali metal salt selected from the group consisting of sodium and potassium and said alkali metal chromate is selected from the group consisting of sodium chromate and potassium chromate.

2. The synergistic composition of claim 1 wherein sodium Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide is employed as the alkali metal salt of Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide.

3. The synergistic composition of claim 1 wherein potassium Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide is employed as the alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridinel -oxide.

4. The synergistic composition of claim 2 wherein sodium chromate is said alkali metal chromate.

5. The synergistic composition of claim 2 wherein potassium chromate is said alkali metal chromate.

6. The composition of claim 3 wherein potassium chromate is said alkali metal chromate.

7. A method for inhibiting the bacterial and fungal growth in cooling towers employing water as the heat transfer media, which comprises adding thereto a synergistic anti-bacterial and anti-fungal composition comprising an alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridinel-oxide and an alkali metal chromate in the amounts of from about 1:1 to about l:4 arts by weight of said mercaptopyridme salt to said a kali metal chromate, sai

alkali metal salt of Z-mercaptopyridine-l-oxide is an alkali metal salt selected from the group consisting of sodium and potassium and said alkali metal chromate is selected from the group consisting of sodium chromate and potassium. chromate.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein sodium 2-mercapto-pyridine-l-oxide and sodium chromate are employed.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein potassium 2-mercapto-pyridine-l-oxide and potassium chromate are employed.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein sodium 2-mercapto-pyridine-l-oxide and potassium chromate are employed. 

2. The synergistic composition of claim 1 wherein sodium 2-mercaptopyridine-1-oxide is employed as the alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridine-1-oxide.
 3. The synergistic composition of claim 1 wherein potassium 2-mercaptopyridine-1-Oxide is employed as the alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridine-1-oxide.
 4. The synergistic composition of claim 2 wherein sodium chromate is said alkali metal chromate.
 5. The synergistic composition of claim 2 wherein potassium chromate is said alkali metal chromate.
 6. The composition of claim 3 wherein potassium chromate is said alkali metal chromate.
 7. A method for inhibiting the bacterial and fungal growth in cooling towers employing water as the heat transfer media, which comprises adding thereto a synergistic anti-bacterial and anti-fungal composition comprising an alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridine-1-oxide and an alkali metal chromate in the amounts of from about 1:1 to about 1:4 parts by weight of said mercaptopyridine salt to said alkali metal chromate, said alkali metal salt of 2-mercaptopyridine-1-oxide is an alkali metal salt selected from the group consisting of sodium and potassium and said alkali metal chromate is selected from the group consisting of sodium chromate and potassium chromate.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein sodium 2-mercapto-pyridine-1-oxide and sodium chromate are employed.
 9. The method of claim 7 wherein potassium 2-mercapto-pyridine-1-oxide and potassium chromate are employed.
 10. The method of claim 7 wherein sodium 2-mercapto-pyridine-1-oxide and potassium chromate are employed. 